Comments on: dead g4 powerbook

Question: dead g4 powerbook

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:15:23 -0800

completely dead powerbook g4.

pauli's powerbook (12" g4, about 2.5 years old) is dead. it won't turn on and the plug doesn't glow.

she opened it and it didn't wake up, although the front white light was pulsing. i unplugged the power and removed the battery to reset it, thinking that might help, but the only difference now is that the white light at the front is dead too. i've tried holding shift-ctrl-opt down while pressing the power switch, but that doesn't help. it's just dead dead dead.

any suggestions? thanks.

By: Rothko

Rothko — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:19:12 -0800

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit

I'm suggesting it again because people often don't get it quite right the first time around (myself included).

By: clord

clord — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:21:32 -0800

From my experience with PC death, I would ask:

Do you hear the fan and HD turn on now (ie, does the screen just stay black)? or is it currently a total brick. PB's are hard to hear, so it could be stuck at a POST test, which suggests a dead component, such as hard-disk, cpu, mobo, or ram module.

Fortunately I do not have experience with Mac death yet. Perhaps there are specific procedures. I am interested in hearing them, as my PB is getting on 2 years.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:23:30 -0800

total brick, as far as i can tell. the power plug used to glow even when it was turned off, as far as we can remember. it doesn't now.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:26:57 -0800

The battery could be completely drained, perhaps due to problems with AC charging. I would try getting a battery you know to be charged and putting that in.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:27:29 -0800

oops missed your comment rothko. have now followed those instructions exactly, i think, twice, but see nothing.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:29:45 -0800

fixed!

thanks rothko - seems it was that, plus the battery being dead (i tried it again plugged in).

i guess something went wrong, battery got used up, and then it died.

heh. i am hero of the hour now. cheers.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:30:25 -0800

oh, thanks vacapinta, yes, that was it.

sorry, seem to keep missing people's posts.